"This is... an Earth Armor Dragon!"
Gazing at the yellow-brown beast, which stood a full zhang tall and stretched three zhang long, Chen Changming immediately recognized its name.
It was an earth-element beast, skilled at burrowing through the ground and possessed of formidable defenses. It could unleash ground spikes and attack by firing balls of earth.
The Earth Armor Dragon didn't look much like a dragon. Its long neck was more like a snake's, its tail was very short, and its entire body was covered in thick scales as impenetrable as hard armor.
After eating two people, the Earth Armor Dragon still wasn't satisfied. It even wanted to eat Chen Changming.
"You beast! You're asking for death!"
Chen Changming was about to flee when a streak of sword light suddenly cut through the night and came crashing down.
Boom!
The blow was incredibly powerful, and it actually knocked the Earth Armor Dragon to the ground.
"Sorry, Junior Brother. I'm late." A red-clad figure drifted down in front of Chen Changming.
It was Luo Lan.
The young woman was injured too, her body covered in blood. It was impossible to tell whether it was human or beast blood.
Still, her fighting spirit burned high, and a powerful sword intent radiated from her.
"Senior Sister, this is a Level 1 Mid-Tier Beast. Those two disciples from the Blood Demon Sect were eaten by it, so be extra careful."
Chen Changming spoke in a low voice.
He wasn't lying. The two men he'd killed really had been eaten by the Earth Armor Dragon afterward.
"Stay back. I'll deal with it."
Luo Lan's expression was stern.
After taking one of her sword strikes, the Earth Armor Dragon had lost only five or six scales. It hadn't bled at all. Her attack hadn't inflicted even the slightest injury.
Beasts like the Earth Armor Dragon were rare in Cloud Mist Mountain. They usually hid underground, so this was her first time encountering one.
Chen Changming slowly retreated.
He kept an eye on the other directions as well, but the fighting was chaotic, and many people were being battered by the beasts. Everyone was getting farther and farther apart.
"Chen, you little brat—die!"
A streak of blood-red sword light shot diagonally out of the distant woods and stabbed fiercely toward Chen Changming's back.
It was Liao Changhai's attack.
He had only kept Luo Lan occupied for a while before estimating that enough time had passed and fleeing.
When Luo Lan flew into Cloud Mist Mountain to chase Chen Changming, he had inexplicably followed her again.
Although he trusted his three junior brothers' abilities, he still wanted to see Chen Changming's corpse with his own eyes.
Who would have thought—
When Liao Changhai sneaked over, he heard Chen Changming say that his two junior brothers had been eaten by the Earth Armor Dragon. The news made him blaze with fury. He forcibly held himself back for a moment, then seized an opportunity to attack.
As a chill instinctively prickled the back of his neck, Chen Changming unleashed the full power of the Dragon Glide Step in that moment of danger. His body blurred into a streak of afterimages, and he instantly appeared behind the Earth Armor Dragon.
At the same time,
the Earth Armor Dragon, having recovered its strength, opened its maw toward Luo Lan and spat out dozens of half-meter-wide earth balls.
Though they were made of earth, they were incomparably hard, on par with metal.
Thud! Thud!
While slicing the earth balls apart with her sword, Luo Lan charged toward Liao Changhai and shouted furiously, "You vile scoundrel! How dare you sneak-attack my Junior Brother? Not one of you Blood Demon Sect disciples has any shame!"
Liao Changhai was already struggling to deal with the earth balls raining down around him, and now he also had to fight Luo Lan. For a time, he was in an extremely sorry state.
"Roar!"
The Earth Armor Dragon roared and joined the fray, attacking the two of them.
Its main target was Luo Lan, but Liao Changhai of the Blood Demon Sect was also at the seventh level of Qi Refining. In its eyes, they were both delicious, nourishing meals. If it ate them, perhaps it could advance.
Relying on its terrifying defense, the Earth Armor Dragon barreled into them. Every so often, it spat out earth balls or sent ground spikes bursting up, relentlessly attacking the two.
At times, Luo Lan and Liao Changhai attacked each other; at others, they joined forces against the Earth Armor Dragon.
Watching from the sidelines, Chen Changming could only fret. He couldn't get involved in a battle like this.
After several exchanges, the chaotic fight left both Liao Changhai and Luo Lan repeatedly wounded. But together, they had also managed to injure the Earth Armor Dragon. Many of its scales had fallen away, and thick streams of blood flowed from its wounds.
"If this keeps up, I'll be worn down to death..."
Liao Changhai sighed helplessly. Suddenly, his blood essence ignited, and his whole body transformed into a streak of blood-red light that tore through the air.
At the critical moment, he had used Blood Escape.
This life-saving technique severely damaged his vitality. Once he used it, his cultivation would likely stagnate for at least two years. But now, with his life on the line, he couldn't afford to worry about that.
After Liao Changhai fled, all the pressure fell on Luo Lan.
Fortunately, the Earth Armor Dragon was injured too, and its fighting strength had declined considerably. It was now evenly matched with Luo Lan.
Chen Changming suddenly sprang into action. He rushed over and stabbed his sword into the Earth Armor Dragon's neck, where there was already a wound.
"Roar!"
The Earth Armor Dragon flew into a rage. As soon as it opened its mouth, more than ten earth balls shot out.
Chen Changming dodged again and again, but in the end, he couldn't avoid one of them. He could only summon the Blood Spirit Cover with a thought. It flew out and brought down a layer of defense, colliding with the earth ball.
Boom!
The immense force packed into the earth ball sent Chen Changming flying. He crashed hard into a rock.
Even with the Blood Spirit Cover's protection, he suffered a minor injury, and a thread of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"A Level 1 Mid-Tier Beast really is terrifying..."
A look of alarm appeared in Chen Changming's eyes.
"Junior Brother, just support me!"
Luo Lan increased the ferocity of her attacks. For a moment, sword light fell like raindrops, and the Earth Armor Dragon took more than ten strikes, worsening its injuries.
After suffering one wound after another,
the Earth Armor Dragon suddenly let out a furious roar, burrowed underground, and fled.
"Trying to run?"
Luo Lan attacked repeatedly, sending streaks of sword light into the earth and wounding the Earth Armor Dragon again.
It was a Level 1 Mid-Tier Beast. She had worked so hard; if she let it escape, all those contribution points would slip through her fingers.
Boom!
The Earth Armor Dragon burst out of the ground, its blood and energy ablaze and its aura surging. It turned and attacked Luo Lan.
"What's that?"
A huge hole now gaped in the earth, and an enchanting purple-red flower slowly rose into view.
Chen Changming's pupils contracted.
The flower was releasing the aura of Foundation Establishment! In other words, it was at least a Level 2 Demonic Beast!
No wonder the Earth Armor Dragon had been frightened into fleeing underground. It had been afraid of this enormous flower.
But the purple flower was in a sorry state too, its entire body covered in wounds. Of its original eight petals, two had been torn away, leaving only six.
"The Man-Eating Flower Demon!"
Luo Lan retreated through the air, dodging the Earth Armor Dragon's attacks, when she suddenly remembered what the giant flower was.
It was said that Cloud Mist Mountain was home to a Man-Eating Flower Demon, a Level 3 Mid-Tier Demonic Beast.
Whoosh!
A cloud of purple mist spewed out, instantly enveloping the Earth Armor Dragon. Then the mist drew back, and the six petals closed around it.
The Earth Armor Dragon was trapped inside the petals, unable to move at all. Its hard body visibly dissolved and was absorbed.
The hairs on Chen Changming's back stood on end.
This purple-red flower was far too terrifying. In the space of just one or two breaths, it had devoured the Earth Armor Dragon completely.
"Junior Brother, this is the Man-Eating Flower Demon, a Level 3 Mid-Tier Demonic Beast. Your cultivation is low, so it won't be interested in you. I'll see if I can lure it away..."
Senior Sister's voice came through to Chen Changming's ear.
A Level 3 Mid-Tier Demonic Beast?
Chen Changming was terrified too. How had such a fearsome beast come out of the depths of Cloud Mist Mountain?